Woman injured in Afula stabbing, Palestinian assailant captured

Police are investigating motive, not ruling out terror.

Scene after one woman wounded, Palestinian assailant arrested in Afula stabbing attack, June 11, 2018 (Courtesy Israel Police)
A young woman was stabbed and badly wounded on Monday afternoon in Afula.
According to Magen David Adom, EMTs and paramedics evacuated the 18-year-old victim to Ha’emek Medical Center in moderate to severe condition with stab wounds to her upper body, after she managed to walk a few steps and collapsed next to an Aroma coffee shop.
“When we arrived at the scene it was very chaotic. An 18-yearold girl was sitting on a chair at the entrance to a store, conscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds to the upper body,” said one of the MDA paramedics who treated her.
Police who were dispatched to the scene said they identified a suspect who began to flee and refused to stop, after which they fired at his legs, neutralizing him, and then arrested him.
A knife was found in his possession.
The stabber has been identified as a Palestinian man in his 20s from the West Bank city of Jenin who was in Israel illegally, police said.
Police are investigating possible motives, and have not ruled out terrorism.
The alertness of the citizens who swiftly reported the incident enabled police to quickly send officers from the Special Patrol Unit to the scene, they said.